Blues fitness coach smashes his charity target halfway into 26 marathons for Macmillan Cancer Support

An Everton fitness coach who’s running an incredible 26 marathons in 26 weeks has been able to double his original fundraising target just over halfway through his challenge.

Jack Dowling set himself the tough goal to raise money and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Jack, who comes from Crosby, decided on the gruelling challenge after his brother Tom was diagnosed with bowel cancer in June 2022.

Because he is a Blue and Tom’s a Red, he chose to start his six-month campaign by running his first marathon in October last year, the day after the derby match.

30-year-old Jack initially set himself a fundraising target of £5,000 which he soon upped to £32,250, the amount it costs to fund a Macmillan specialist nurse for 26 weeks.

But since then the response has been so huge that he’s been able to increase it again to £62,500, so now he hopes to be able to cover the cost of two nurses thanks to his efforts.

Since he ran his first 26.2mile route, Jack has had huge support, from both clubs and from the local community.

He says that’s been a big morale boost – especially when he was able to celebrate getting to halfway at his old school, Chesterfield High.

“It’s been tough obviously but an amazing experience and hitting the halfway mark was quite overwhelming for me because of how many people turned out.

“We did it at my school and my old PE teacher is the headteacher now so he ran the whole way with us and afterwards there must have been about 150 people there clapping us in which was amazing.

“Now I’m just cracking on to the second half, although I’ve been struggling a bit with my knee for the last couple of weeks so I just need to fight through that pain.”

Jack admits if he was working with a player who had a similar injury, he’d most likely be suggesting rest, but with a tight schedule leading up to the London Marathon in April that’s not an option.

“What I’ve got is called ITB syndrome and you are meant to rest for a few weeks to settle it down but obviously I can’t so we’ve just got to manage it week to week the best way we can.”

The way Jack started his 26 marathons in 26 weeks challenge on derby weekend actually gave him 27 Sundays to the London Marathon which meant he could give himself a well-earned break over New Year.

He admits it’s probably not the best training for such a big race, but he’s not putting any pressure on himself when it comes to times for London on April 21.

“If you’re trying to peak for a marathon you’d build up over 12 to 14 weeks whereas I did that for the first few so I’m not trying to peak for London or go for a new fastest time. I want to enjoy the experience and just see what happens.

“I still want to push myself and I’ve got a personal challenge to keep every one under four hours which I’m doing at the moment so I want to do that at least and if I feel good towards the second half I might just go for it.”

Jack says having support from the local community while he’s out pounding the pavements has been a real help.

“More or less every run I’ve had someone on their bike or running beside me, for a few miles or a half marathon or a full one, and that’s what keeps me going.

“You can have a little chat, pass a few miles and it makes it go a bit quicker and the support has been fantastic from the start.

“It’s hard but I’ve got this mindset where I’m just going for a longer run at the weekend, I don’t think of it as being impossible. I just want to raise awareness, get people to talk, understand about Macmillan and maybe get themselves checked. My running is just a small part of it.”

Jack is hoping Tom will be well enough to see him complete the London Marathon and he’s looking forward to crossing the final finishing line.

“I just keep picturing that feeling when I cross the finish line and then I think I’ll have a bit of a break!”

For more info on Macmillan Cancer Support click here. For the latest news in Liverpool click here.